From The Mountain Cafe Cookbook by Kirsten Gilmour

Dairy free

Serves 4-6

An autumnal butt-kicking, tummy-warming, filling soup for the colder months. If you want to make this veggie-friendly or don’t want to use chorizo then some chopped red peppers make a good alternative. Chorizo quite often has gluten in it – check the ingredients if you are making this for gluten-free people.

550g butternut squash peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks

2 tablespoons runny honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

150g chorizo, roughly diced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

12 sage leaves

1600ml chicken/vegetable stock (or 3 stock cubes in 1600ml hot water)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan).

Put the butternut squash in a roasting tin and drizzle with the runny honey and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle with the paprika and some salt and pepper, stir to mix and roast for 20 minutes until the butternut starts to soften. Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot, then add the onions, chorizo, garlic, chilli and sage, and sauté until the onions start to soften and the chorizo has released its oil. Add the roasted butternut squash and the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer on a gentle heat till the butternut squash is very soft – about 40 minutes. Blitz the soup, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper – if it’s too thick for you, add a bit more water. If you have any chorizo left over, cut it into thin slices and crisp them up in a hot pan. Spoon a few slices on top of each serving of soup as a garnish, then I love to drizzle over a little of the hot chorizo oil from the pan for extra flavour.